In the River Arts District is Gallery Mugen, where Akira Satake displays his pottery and Barbara Zaretsky displays her textiles. But sweet-toothed shoppers may be surprised to stumble upon a tiny patisserie tucked within the gallery. Yuzu Patisserie is the work of Satake’s wife, Cynthia Pierce, who has more than 20 years of baking experience, including a stint at The Market Place under Mark Rosenstein.

Pierce also makes pastries incorporating yuzu, the East Asian citrus fruit after which the patisserie is named. And she’s gearing up for Easter this week with chocolate Easter Bunny cookies and lemon-lime macaroons.

All pastries are served on Satake’s platters, which Pierce said matches the thinking behind her baked goods. “I think part of it is Akira and I have worked together for so long and we share some aesthetics,” she said. “His work tends to be minimalist and I go for that too — I like pure flavors and simpler presentations.”

Pierce said gallery explorers frequently thank her — when they find her. “It’s always exciting to me when people come in and say ‘Thank you for being here,’” said Pierce. “I feel like they get it. That this is a place where they can discover something new.” (122 Riverside Drive, Studio D.)

More of Asheville’s hidden dishes

“Animal-style” burger at Buffalo Nickel

Buffalo Nickel, the newly opened restaurant at 747 Haywood Road, has “animal-style” fries on its menu, which is no secret. What’s animal-style exactly? It’s a nod to another supposedly “secret menu” at In-N-Out Burger, a West Coast burger chain. In-N-Out has a tiny menu: cheeseburger, hamburger and the Double-Double.

That limited menu drives customers to ask for extras all the time, and the most-frequent requests comprise a “secret menu” that’s more of an open secret than anything else. “In reality, we don’t have any secrets at all,” the burger chain’s website explains. “It’s just the way some of our customers like their burgers prepared, and we’re all about making our customers happy.”

The “animal-style” In-N-Out burger is a mustard-cooked patty, ladled with Thousand Island dressing and served with griddled onions.

At Buffalo Nickel, even though it’s not on the menu, you can order your burger animal-style, too. For chef Ryan Kline, that means “seared in mustard, topped with special sauce, grilled onions and house-made cheese whiz.” Buffalo Nickel is at 747 Haywood Road.

Stir fry at King James

King James Public House on Charlotte Street also has a secret “animal-style” burger, according to chef Steve Goff. The burger is only available sometimes, said Goff, “so people just have to ask if we have it.” Soon, though, that burger will become a regular item on the late-night menu, only available after 10 p.m.

There’s still another off-the-menu item to be had: Goff has the ingredients for a fried chicken stir fry, a former late-night dish, for anyone who knows to ask for it.

King James is at 94 Charlotte St.

Taste and See Food Truck’s secret menu

Taste and See food truck has an extensive off-the-menu selection. “I think it’s just cool to have different options and an inclusive feel to the food truck,” said owner Wesley Wright. “People can come and get something that makes them feel special and more involved with the business.”

Not included on the food truck’s regular menu is a chicken gyro, a vegetable gyro and a chicken salad with mango-honey mustard, which can be had with flounder, too. But Wright’s pride and joy is the “Awesomeburger,” a quarter-pound Hickory Nut Gap beef burger with Swiss, lettuce, tomato, onion and bacon. Also? “That comes with Awesomesauce, which is a spicy Sriracha-based sauce,” Wright said, adding that the burger is his wife’s invention. Credit where credit is due, of course.

With such an extensive special menu, why keep it a secret at all? Wright said he likes the extra intrigue. “I drop hints on Facebook every now and then — I like people coming and asking,” he said. “But I don’t promote it too much, because if I go to a festival, I don’t want to be doing special orders all day.”

Find Taste and See Mondays at The Lot at 51 Coxe Ave. For the rest of the schedule, check the Taste and See Facebook page.

Insider ice cream at Ultimate

The only thing better than ice cream is secret ice cream. Ultimate Ice Cream Company kicked off a secret series this Christmas with a peppermint-brownie ice cream flavor only announced on Facebook. Since then, Ultimate Ice Cream has made bourbon and salted-chocolate pecan flavors, which were kept hidden in the back.

“It’s just to see who’s paying attention on Facebook and who sees our posts,” said employee Brittany Danner. “It’s fun for us to communicate with the customers in somewhat of a secret language.”

Danner said there are more flavors coming, but she couldn’t say what. She’s likely trying to add to the mystique. And why not? It’s fun watching people hunt down the hidden confection.

“Most of them are funny because they’re sneaky about it when they come into the store,” Danner said. “They ask for it really, really quietly so people can’t hear them.” Ultimate Ice Cream is at 1070 Tunnel Road and 197 Charlotte St.

While not exactly secret, the following eateries are either hidden themselves or have unexpected eats on certain days.

Luella’s Bar-B-Que at the Co-Op

Barbecue at the Co-Op? Yep, that’s a thing. It’s only on Wednesday and Thursday, and there’s also food from the Asheville Sandwich Company’s Catering branch, according to French Broad Food Co-Op manager Greg Mosser.

“That’s just until we can get the soul food back,” he said. Soul food? Yep, a student from the GO Kitchen-Ready Training Program was making soul food for the Co-Op, but he lost his kitchen. But the program is waiting for more space to open in the Reed Center, which should happen this summer, Mosser said. The French Broad Food Co-Op is at 197 Biltmore Ave.

Cheese inside the Weinhaus

O.K., this one is quite public. But we think you might not know about this semi-hidden cheese spot, The Cheese Store of Asheville, tucked into the Weinhaus at 86 Patton Ave. There you can procure $5.25 baguette sandwiches with ingredients such as prosciutto and asiago, salami and goat cheese, and brie and fig.

Owner Katie Moore can whip up an off-menu cheese plate that matches what you’re sipping (you are sitting in the middle of a wine store, after all). “It’s really fun to sit down and think about what you’re drinking and pair cheese with it,” said Moore. “There’s someone who can help you think about what’s going well with what you’re drinking and vice versa. It can be a little more playful than a set menu.”

Saturday chicken and waffles at DeSoto

DeSoto Lounge in West Asheville has a history of unusual menus. For some time, the restaurant ran a full Ethiopian menu one night a week. That menu is gone, but the lounge now has chicken and waffles, but only on Saturday. Sabrina White, co-owner of DeSoto, uses one of her employee’s grandmother’s old recipes, just “tweaked a little bit.”

“It’s a four-day process with the chicken,” she said. “It’s double-breaded and fried.” The syrup on top is kicked up a notch with red pepper and cayenne, too. These aren’t your grandmother’s waffles.

White’s not sure what the future will hold for the chicken-and-waffle Saturdays, what with King Daddy’s Chicken and Waffles moving in right down the street. “We are going to wait and see how it goes,” she said. DeSoto is at 504 Haywood Road.

English Breakfasts at Hi-Wire

Again, it’s not exactly a secret, but a brewery might not be the place you’d expect to find a “proper” English breakfast — or, maybe it’s exactly the place to look.

Hi-Wire features, with a morning soccer game, a platter of eggs, bacon, sausage, grilled tomatoes, baked beans, and toast. If you’re not feeling that, there may be pork pancake stacks with tots, or French toast with fruit, or breakfast burritos stuffed with tots.

Also? The place almost encourages day-drinking. Breakfast is $6.95, or $9.95 with a Hi-Wire pint. It’s practically required. FEB breakfasts at Hi-Wire start at 10 a.m., April 12, 19 and 26. Hi-Wire is at 197 Hilliard Ave.